Birds of a Feather
by Virginia Tallon
Summary: When an old foe comes back and confesses his love for Raven, what will result?
1. Grim Arrivals

Grim Arrivals

Dark, shining and beautiful. Black metal buildings glimmering in the rising sun, towering over the city with a cautious gaze. Blissful and serene, Jump City awoke from the night's sleep, stretching into the new day.

She arose silently, long arms extended in a morning stretch. 6:30 AM, read the soft red glow of the alarm clock. Time for another dose of life. Leaving her hair in its indigo mess, she quickly wrestled out of her night clothes and into a clean blue leotard. Draping a cloak around herself dazedly, she pulled on her pair of indigo shoes and stumbled out the door.

The bright hall lights struck her eyes like a knife, and she winced and pulled up her hood. Maybe her room was a little too dark after all. Making her way down the empty hallway, she heard muffled voices coming from the room at the end. A shriek, and then a bout of laughter from the other voices. She laughed inwardly. 'Beast Boy.'

Her footfalls echoed in the hall, amplified by the bare walls. The sound comforted her, a familiar sound that she had grown accustomed to. Approaching the end of the hall, the doors opened before her and the voices grew louder. Cyborg stood at the end of the bar, laughing at BB's humiliation, red robotic eye gently glowing in contrast to his human eye that teared up with laughter. Kind but clueless Starfire, who covered her mouth as she joined the laughter. Goofy Beast Boy-- who, she hated to admit, was actually pretty funny at times-- who was steaming as the others made fun of him. And then there was Robin-- sweet, caring Robin, who held a careful balance of justice and sympathy-- laughing softly in the background.

Raven floated down the steps as the others stifled their laughter to greet her. She mumbled a brief hello and mentally snatched a piece of toast, spread jelly on it, and brought it over to her open palm. She nibbled on it quietly and settled into the conversation.

"So then Beast Boy slipped and got a face full of tofu chicken! HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" Cyborg's friendly voice called.

Raven laughed and looked at Beast Boy, whose green face still had a few splotches of tofu. He quickly morphed into a green dog and shook the food off of him and onto Cyborg.

Starfire turned to Robin and asked in her usual question of a voice, "Might you pass the toasted bread?" When Robin set it before her, she added a 'thank you' and began shoving it into her mouth. Robin smiled at her strange manners and Cyborg proposed an idea.

"Y'all wanna go to the park and toss around the old stank ball? I got the T-car all fixed up and she's ready for a spin." The T-car had been wrecked numerous times now, almost every time they left the tower, and Cy proposed this idea every time he had it fixed. But, the park was good exercise, and they always had a good time, so, each in turn, they agreed. Cyborg gave a delighted smile and went to start the car.

Raven ran a hand through her hair, wondering if she should bother to brush it, sighed, and finished her toast hurriedly. Robin took Starfire's arm and escorted her through the door as it opened for them. Beast Boy looked at Raven as he grabbed a jacket and asked, "You coming?"

Raven swallowed the last bit of toast. "Let me get a brush and I'll be right out." Beast Boy smiled and dashed out the door. "Wait up!" he called to the others.

Raven sighed and took a step toward the door. Did she really want to go? Lately the city only reminded her of the day she had reigned, that awful day when she was nothing but a vessel of destruction. She wanted to forget that, all of it, but it was inescapable, she decided. And besides, it was all over. What did she have to worry about?

She rushed into her room, fumbled through her drawers, and managed to find a brush. For an instant she looked into her mirror, but it was an instant too long. A normal image of herself looked back at her, purple eyes wide with fear, but what lurked behind it was what had scared her. An ear-shattering roar began to rush through her ears, drowning out all other noises around her, as she stared in horror at the thing behind her, and whispered the name, though she could not hear it.

"Malchior."


	2. Papercut

"That's right, my pet." Blood red eyes stared back at her, their intense color locking Raven's gaze. She couldn't look away. He was a boy again, in the papery state he had been in before she released him. Frightened purple eyes suddenly narrowed in anger, and she pulled free.

"What are you doing here." Raven's words were like ice, more of a command than a question. "We destroyed you." Her breathing picked up and she fell into a fighting stance unwittingly.

"Ah, but a story never dies. It lives in the hearts of its readers. You, of all people, I would expect to know that. But that matters not. I've come for you, Raven. I may have used you to set me free, but you are more enthralling than you know. You are divine and powerful and beautiful." She stopped him before he got too far, strangling him with a rope of darkness.

"You may be good with words," Raven said darkly, "but you are sick when it comes to love." She tightened her hold on his neck, waiting for him to gasp for air.

Just then Beast Boy burst through the door, blurting out a message: "Aren't you coming?" before spotting the paper man Raven was holding off. "Baaah!" Raven's eyes darted to Beast Boy, who stood gaping at the doorway.

"Don't just stand there!" She said, struggling to maintain control of her grasp. "Get help!"

"Right," Beast Boy mumbled before flying down the hall. Literally.

The Titans shot out of the car and raced down the hall as soon as BB said the word, reaching Raven's room as she let out a cry. Beast Boy led the way, darting through the doors as they opened. Raven fell to her knees as Malchior's mental power forced her down. Simultaneously, he slammed the doors before the Titans, locking them out, Beast Boy quickly reacting and morphing into a fly so as to listen inconspicuously.

"Raven, I am not here to fight you," Malchior said gently, his tone of voice never changing. He released her slowly once he had shut the Titans out. "I am indebted to you, Raven. Your power gave me life, and I fear I cannot repay you. Your magic flows within me, I belong to you and no other." Raven's shocked expression grew more surprised, and then blew up in fury.

"We destroyed you," she said, blue hair waving as rage built up inside her. "You used me, taught me dark magic without telling me! I almost killed a girl, trying to save her!" Tears started to form at the corners of her violet eyes at the remembrance of this incident. "And now you expect me to love you?!" Her hair flew up into the air, waving madly as her eyes overcame with black shadows. Her breathing was fast and she stood, breathing in his face.

"Careful, Raven," he said softly. "Don't let your emotions get the better of you." He reached out a papery hand to pet her cheek, smiling all the while.

Raven's violet hair fell flat against her neck, pupils dropping in size. All anger fled from her being at his gentle touch. He pulled her close to him, and her soft eyes soon found their way to his. She stood staring at him for a long moment, and then blushed. Something had suddenly come over her, and she could not quite understand what. She just couldn't find the anger that she had felt seconds before. And for some reason, he looked more appealing to her than ever. She couldn't escape the truth: she was infatuated. But strangely this did not bother her. He held her hand, ever so gracefully, and upon it he laid a kiss. She blushed again, hiding her smile behind her free hand and looked toward the ground.

"Fair maiden," he spoke, his sweet breath upon her neck. A gentle accent arose in his voice, bringing back Raven's memories of all the time they spent together, him teaching her those old spells. She remembered the joy it brought her to have someone who really understood her. "I have spent all this time waiting for you, and I will wait no longer. What I have done was wrong. I never meant to hurt such a stunning girl as you are. I merely wanted my freedom. I know I am not what you expected. But does that mean you should shun me? Nay, I think it not. You are a glowing light in all your darkness, and I am sorry that I should ever have brought harm upon your soul. But, as you can see, I am again bound by my story and its pages, and I no longer wish to be the fierce dragon I once was. For a dragon cannot speak, cannot fell, cannot love." His eyes fell upon her hand, as he brought it up again and kissed it.

"If you will help me, I wish to be a man. Neither a dragon, nor a man of paper; nay, I should want to be of human being so that I might love you more." Green eyes shone deeply into Raven's violet ones, light bouncing back and forth between them.

Raven had listened to his plea, carefully pondering his request. 'If I make him human, he might use me again and terrorize the city,' she thought silently. 'But he might be true this time, and he is so very kind.' His papery fingers gently massaged her hand as she thought, sending shivers down her spine. She opened her mouth to make heard her decision when the paper cut the flesh of her palm and she winced at the instant pain. Her eyes dropped to the wound immediately and then to his face. He looked perfectly fine for a moment until he realized her eyes upon him. "Terribly sorry, my Raven," he said apologetically, wiping the blood from her hand. "You see, this is why I wish to be man. My skin is rough and papery, and I cannot touch you without fearing that I might hurt you." Malchior's finger began to turn red where he had touched her, soaking fast. His face remained careless.

Raven sighed and tried to salvage whatever thought had been previously going through her mind before he had cut in (hahaha). "Malchior," she started, while the little green fly whizzed past her, "I cannot make you human. My powers are so limited, and even if you were to teach me the spells, I do not have time to learn them. My duty is to protect the city, and I cannot abandon that."

"Raven, you have all the time in the world," he started to tell her.

"No. This is my job and I'm going to do it. However," she said, bringing her hand up to softly pet his cheek, "I will do any other thing you request of me."

Malchior seemed to be amused by this suggestion and smirked. "Would you join me, then, to dinner?" His gentleman attitude came back and he offered his arm.

"Um, I think it's called lunch now," Raven said, wrinkling her brow, "but sure." She looked down at the hairbrush lying on the floor and decided that it wasn't worth it, and wrapped her cloak around him as she enclosed them in darkness.

Beast Boy flew as fast as he could toward their raven-shaped portal, but it dissipated before him and he flew straight into the full mirror. "Dang," he cursed as he morphed back into his normal-- if you can call him that-- form. He stumbled to his feet and walked to the doors, prying them loose after a few dozen failed attempts.

The others stood around in the hallway, ready to burst in, but BB gave them the hint and they sighed. He explained all that he could remember of Raven and Malchior's discussion, and Robin asked quickly, "Where did they go?"

"I dunno, dude, but my guess is somewhere in the city." Beast Boy said as he shrugged.

Robin lead them out of the hallway and back to the T-car. "I guess we'll go to the park another time. We've gotta find Raven."

"I'm sure she's having a great time, Robin," said Cyborg as they all piled into the car.

Robin reminded Cyborg, "Malchior, remember? The guy who turned out to be the dragon? He taught Raven all that dark magic, and she almost hurt someone. He must have her under a spell or something."

Cyborg shrugged and shoved past Robin into the driver's seat. Robin gave a 'wtf' look and Cyborg smiled. "You know I always drive." The others silently fell into place inside the spacious car and strapped themselves in hastily.

Raven sighed dreamily, head in her hands, and lazily munched on a breadstick. The waiter stood before them, and she neither noticed him nor cared. All she could see were those beautiful, humming green eyes. They sang to her sweetly--metaphorically speaking-- and she was only aroused from this dream-like state when the waiter nudged her shoulder. Her eyes snapped back to focus and she turned to the waiter who was not at all amused.

"Wha?" she managed to utter quickly.

"What would you like to eat, miss?" asked the waiter through gritted teeth.

Raven looked to the menu that lay on the table in front of her, and randomly chose an order of fries to get him to go away. Once he had left, she glanced toward her cup of tea, grabbing the spoon that was half consumed by the murky water, and stirred it nervously.

"So," Raven said, glancing from her cup to Malchior again. Those eyes were hard to look away from, but she was intent on starting a conversation, and so she looked away again. "What shall we do? How am I gonna keep this a secret this time? Cause last time didn't work out so good."

"You must not go back to the Teen Titans." Malchior begged, taking her busy hand in his. He could show no emotion, but she could hear the plea in his voice. She


End file.
